The President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Mike Ogirima has attributed the problem facing the health sector in Nigeria to non-implementation of existing laws and policies.
The president made the observation in Abuja on Tuesday at the 58th Annual Delegates’ Meeting and Scientific Conference of the NMA.
Ogirima said that series of laws, policies and conventions that Nigeria had adopted had not been followed with the right implementation.
Prof. Mike Ogirima
The president stressed that if all the policies on health were implemented, the narratives of the health systems in the country would change for the better.
“Nigeria is no longer in need of legislations or policy instrument to change the narratives of its healthcare delivery.
“Had diligent implementation been followed, the following tools could have revolutionalised healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
“They include National Health Policy 2004 8L 2016, Healthcare Financing Policy and Strategy 2006, Recommendations of National Vaccine Summit 2012, Outcome of Presidential Summit on Healthcare Financing 2014 and National Health Act 2014.
“Other tools are Yayale Ahmed Presidential Committee on Inter Professional Relationships in the Public Health Sector 2014, Human Resources for Health Policy and Strategic Plan 2016-2020.
“They also include the National immunization Financing Task (NIFT) and Team work on Sustainable Immunization Financing.
“What Nigeria needs today is the strongest political will at every level of governance to do things differently. This will manifest in improved resource prioritization and allocation.
“It will also bring about innovative and sustainable health financing options, enhanced sector oversight and supportive supervision, incentivizing healthcare issues and applying reasonable sanctions to defaulters,” he said.
The NMA boss particularly expressed displeasure at how the nation trivialized the recent wake-up call from international personalities like Mr Bill Gates, the Microsoft giant.
He said that Bill Gates and Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote called for more investment in human capital development including healthcare and education.
